Driving community change from the bottom of the seafloor up

You have probably heard the term working from the bottom up.This is often used when referring to invoking or inspiring community action onenvironmental issues at the community level. The Chesopeake Bay Foundation hasdone just that without relying solely on government support, showing a workingand successful model which may well work for living in a world of climatechange.

When faced with the threat of losing a beach or a significantanimal people often speak up, shout out “Save our beach, Save our whales” or inChesopeake’s case “Save the Bay.” Faced with losing significant marine species,beaches and ever reducing water quality the community of Chesopeake Bayestablished the Chesopeake Bay Foundation (CBF). The CBF have established aphilanthropic trust, built a world class environmental building and as a resulta business model to become self perpetuating. So how have they done this whenin much of the Chesopeake Bay area much of the coast is privately owned andpeople have had little connection to the coast and the environmental issues?

A collective of locals banded together and helped raisefunds to buy a piece of land on the coast. There they have built one of thefirst LEED Platinum buildings, which is used for environmental education toprovide people with connection to the coast, running University classes andschool field trips from the Centre. The site is also used for catering eventswhich provides a valuable income stream.

So what are the key take away messages and how can you usethis example to invoke community action from the bottom up? The key messages Ihave taken away are:

*Establish a connection – Make it personal, when people are connectedtheir hearts lead the mind.

*Raise awareness of the issue – Don’t assume knowledge, makepeople aware of threats to the environment.

*Create partnerships – establish a good business case andpartnerships for long term success.

This is a great example of a citizen intiative, where theyhave raised awareness and raised the funds to become the caretakers for thecoast. The parallels to living in a world of climate change are many, we mustget people connected to local climate change issues, raise awareness of thethreats and create partnerships to develop long term success.

For more information on the Chesapeake Bay Foundation visit www.cbf.org

Comments

Thanks Ian for the post. I especially like the first message of establishing a connection and making it personal. People do need to personally relate to an issue before they will take action. Thanks again and I look forward to reading more blog posts!